After OZ
by SuperGleek
Summary: Four years after the events of Oz Hunk the farm hand is back to marry the woman that he loves, but will a new suitor ruin his chances with Dorothy? Read & Review please.


It had been a good Two years since Hunk had laid eyes on Dorothy Gale and he was almost embarrassingly nervous about it.

The last time he had seen the girl she had been fifteen and almost painfully beautiful. Now two years later she would be seventeen and looking for a fella to settle down with, somebody smart and kind and who could provide for her. He had spent the last studying everything there was to know about agriculture for this moment, so that he come back to Kansas and ask the crazy wonderful girl he had fallen in love with to do him the biggest favour of all and marry a poor hick like him.

He remembers the exact conversation that led to this moment and he hoped to god he had done everything Uncle Henry had asked for, gods rest his soul.

_A seventeen year old Hunk took a deep breath before walking into the barn where Uncle Henry was fixing the tractor. It had been a month since the big tornado and he had been working himself up to this moment for the past year, ever since Dorothy celebrated her thirteenth birthday and he had realised he might be in love with the girl. _

"_Uncle Henry" he called out, half hoping the old man wouldn't hear him _

"_Hunk my boy what can I help you with" said the old man, looking tired and worn _

_Hunk took a deep breath and began the speech Zeke and Hickory had helped him create. _

"_Well sir I've come to talk about Dorothy. As you might have noticed she has been growing into a fine young lady recently and in a few years time she'll be looking for a fella to settle down with and start her own family and I know that I may be a poor farmers hand, but sir I've come here today to ask for your blessing to court your great niece in the coming years as I believe I could make her happy and provide her with the love and protection she needs." _

_Uncle Henry stood there after he was finished babbling and simply stared at the young man, who was currently so nervous be was almost shaking. It was no secret in town that Dorothy was quite fond of the farm hands and that they were also quite fond of her. It was also no secret Dorothy was worth quite a bit of money, as she inherited the farm after he and his dear Emily passed away. While Henry had no doubt in his mind that Hunk loved his niece he was also cautious of the fact that he was, as he had said, a poor farm worker and that would simply not do in Henry's eyes. _

_Henry sighed before sitting down on a bale of hay and motioning Hunk to join him. He decided to give the boy the same speech and conditions that Em's father gave him when he came to get permission to court Emily. _

"_Hunk my boy you're a good, kind man but you're also a dirt poor one" _

_Hunk's face fell and he looked down in shame._

"_Now there ain't nothing to be ashamed of" said Henry firmly "everybody started out life poor, why before I married Emily I didn't have a nickel to my name" _

"_Sir I swear to you I would take care of Dorothy no matter what..." _

"_I know that boy" interrupted Henry smiling at the his enthusiasm "that's why I'm going to send you to collage in the city, where you'll get an education and then come back and work for me, and if Dorothy will have you the Gale farm will be in your hands son" _

_Hunk looked up at the kind man who had adopted him when he was just a poor orphan five years ago and began to grin like a mad man. _

"_Oh thank you sir! I swear you won't regret this I'll make sure of it!"_

Now after years of letter writing and some supervised outing Hunk was finally ready to ask for Dorothy's hand and after Henry's death the year before Aunty Em was ready to settle down and as she had not so subtly mentioned last time he visited, "some grandbabies to knit hats for".

Hunk waited at the train station when he finally saw his old friend walking towards the platform.

"Zeke!" he called out delighted, before a tiny bundle quickly hurled its self into his knee caps.

"Uncle Hunk" cried out little Sam

Hunk chuckled quickly scooping up the little boy and giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.

When he had been seventeen Zeke was nearing thirty five and had no intention of settling down, no matter how many pretty girl Em invited to the farm for dinner, Zeke had never been interested in any of them.

"All perfume and lipstick" he had claimed, with each twittering woman boring him more than the next, "I would rather stay single then marry a woman with no brains".

When asked if he ever wanted children he had simply smiled and said "I have young Hunk and Dorothy and god know Hickory needs somebody to keep him in line"

That had all changed however after the big tornado.

_After the storm had settled and Dorothy had been checked for injury the three farm hands had began the task of cleaning up the farm. _

"_Say has anybody checked on Miss Gulch?" called out Uncle Henry, checking to see if any chicks were still alive. _

_The three workers looked at each other before Hunk quickly walked inside, mumbling something about checking on Dorothy. _

_Hickory simply grinned and called out "No need to worry Uncle Henry, Zeke is heading over there" _

"_Good man" said Henry, who was now trying to figure out how where to put the hogs while they re-built their pen. _

_Zeke glared at Hickory who only smiled at him and began to fix the front door. _

_Sighing Zeke set of to the large formidable Gulch house to see if Almira was still alive. _

_It was generally an accepted fact in their small town that Almira Gulch was destined to become a lonely spinster. Not only was she plain but her stern demeanour and rather odd choice to work as a school teacher despite her wealth had made her a rather formidable woman. _

_Once he reached the large white house he quickly removed his hat and banged on the door, he had never conversed with Miss Gulch and had no idea if she would welcome the help or not. _

"_Miss Gulch" he called out when nobody answered "Are you alright?"_

_Suddenly the door swung open and there stood Almira, bleeding from a gash on her head and still managing to look haughty. _

"_Yes how may I help you?" she asked. _

_Zeke was stunned for a second. First due to the fact that she had addressed him with such calmness despite the fact that she covered in blood and the secondly because she hadn't given him the look most people of wealth gave him. He thought he quite liked Miss Gulch. _

"_Miss Do you require assistance?" _

"_No sir I am simply bleeding quite profusely but other than that I seem to be in perfect order" she said, rather sarcastic. He definitely liked Miss Gulch _

"_Would you like me to attend to you?" he asked, almost hesitantly "I'm not doctor but I should be able to clean and cover that gash up for you Miss"_

_Almira looked surprised for a second. She had not been expecting anybody to check on her and was going to attempt to ride her bike into town to see the local doctor. _

"_That would be greatly appreciate" _

Six months after that day Zeke had been married and nine months after that their son Sam had been born.

Mss Gulch, or Mss Walker as she was known now, was the perfect no nonsense woman for Zeke and they couldn't be happier.

"Samuel that is no way to greet your uncle" called out Almira pushing a carriage with the sleeping baby Mary inside it.

"I do apologise Hunk he does get over excited sometimes and he's so big for his age"

"That he is" said Zeke proudly clapping Hunk's back and leading him out of the station "he's a strapping little man, he'll be the strongest boy in the state" he bragged, ruffling his sons hair.

"So you keep tell us dear" said Almira, more amused than irritated at her husband's actions.

On the walk back to the Gale farm Zeke and Almira kept Hunk thoroughly distracted as they demanded to know all about his life in the city, his classes, his new friends and his plans for the farm.

By the time they reached the front gate Hunk was laughing, his nerves calmed.

"Well if it ain't the big city boy"

Hunk looked up and was greeted to the sight of a grinning Hickory.

Hickory was one of the smartest men he knew. It was him who taught Hunk how to read and write when he was thirteen and how to build things. He was also a notorious ladies man. They had more than one woman visit the farm screaming that Hickory was a "heartless swine" among other things.

"You look good kiddo" he said appraising the new Hunk.

In the past four years he had filled out so that she didn't look quite as scraggly. His hair was properly cut, his suit was well tailored and his shoes had a spit shine to them.

"Ain't I getting a little too old to be kiddo now?"

"You're always gunna be our kiddo" said Zeke from behind him.

Then suddenly the door swung open and there she was, the girl he was going to marry.

Dorothy had made a cute kid but now she was easily the most beautiful girl in the state. Long brown curls, she had mercifully refused to follow the trend and cut her hair short, big blue eyes and a smile that made the sun look weak.

After simply staring at each other for what seemed like an eternity she suddenly ran and jumped into his arms and for a moment he simply held her there, relishing the feeling of her soft feminine body pressed against his.

"Oh Hunk I've missed you so much!" she cried with her head still buried in his neck.

"And I've missed you Miss Dorothy" he said before gently letting her go.

He looked down and smiled. This was the best greeting he could have hoped for.

"Dorothy darling, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

The sound of another, unfamiliar male voice made his blood run cold. The fact that he called Dorothy darling made him want to punch the person who said it.

"Oh how awfully rude of me" exclaimed Dorothy "Eugene this is Hunk Reynolds, a dear friend of mine and Hunk this is Eugene Smith he lives on the other side of town"

A young man about his own age swaggered off the Gale's porch and walked towards them.

He was an inch or two shorter than Hunk making him about six foot one and quite thin. He was the type of man girls in the city seemed to swoon over, pale blonde haired blue eyed rich boys that reminded him of rats.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet the famous Hunk" said the rat, grabbing his hand and attempting to break it while disguising it as a handshake.

"I wish I could say the same Mr. Smith" he replied, squeezing his hand hard enough to make the rat flinch.

"Let's all go inside shall we?" said Almira, sensing the tension and not liking it one bit "I'm sure Hunk is rather exhausted and wishes to rest before supper"

As the group quickly made their way inside, Almira couldn't help but think tonight's dinner would be something of a disaster.

Well, she thought to herself, there really is not place quite like home.

_**A/N – AHHHHHH I totally watched the wizard of oz the other day! And I have a habit of googling movies right after I watch them. Did you guys know that there was a romance between Hunk/the scarecrow and Dorothy? So I got hit with a stick of inspiration and here's the result. Methinks this will be a three shot but I'm not totally sure, and yes I did marry the cowardly lion and the wicked witch of the west, I'm odd like that. So let me know what you think, and I shall be updating this soonish. **_


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